Archive for the 'Imelda May' Tag Under 'Soundcheck' Category

Justin Timberlake: When JT decides to tour, he really doesn’t stop. He’s already played the Rose Bowl with Jay Z and brought his 20/20 Experience Tour to every arena in Southern California. Now, with shows at Staples Center (Aug. 12, $49.50-$175) and the Forum (Nov. 24, $54.50-$180) still ahead, he’s added yet another performance.

This time it’s at Honda Center in Anaheim on Nov. 26, nearly a year to the date when his latest production first played there. Tickets, $53.50-$179, go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, April 25.

OutKast: The reunited duo’s Coachella appearances won’t be the only chances to see them in Southern California, now that Big Boi and Andre 3000 have been booked to headline the hip-hop night of the BET Experience at L.A. Live. They will lead a Staples Center lineup on June 28 that also includes A$AP Rocky, Rick Ross and more, $59.50-$149.50, on sale now.

Meanwhile, Maxwell, who heads up the June 27 portion of the BET Experience at that arena alongside Jill Scott, has slated a smaller show at Santa Barbara Bowl on June 26, $44-$74, on sale at noon Friday.

Some of the lineup for the 15th annual Doheny Blues Festival in Dana Point had been revealed just before Christmas: Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter and Tab Benoit are back again, alongside upstarts like Trombone Shorty, Los Lonely Boys and Irish rockabilly siren Imelda May.

But now the weekend bash at Doheny State Beach, May 19-20, has added headliners: Gregg Allman and the Steve Miller Band, both making infrequent festival appearances.

Both acts are primed for these sets. Miller, 68, and his group have been touring incessantly behind two blues assortments, 2010's Bingo! and last year's Let Your Hair Down, selling out venues (like London's Royal Albert Hall) that they haven't visited in decades, in addition to repeat performances in O.C. (at Pacific Amphitheatre during the OC Fair, at Honda Center for Cal State Fullerton's yearly Front & Center fund-raiser).

Allman, 65, is riding high off acclaim for last year's superb album Low Country Blues, and whether that wins the Grammy for best blues album (as it should) next month, the distinctive vocalist and keyboardist will be honored regardless, as the Allman Brothers Band will be given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Staples Center ceremony on Feb. 12.

“Year 15 is a proud milestone for the festival," says Rich Sherman, concert promoter for both Doheny Blues and the recently revived Doheny Days, "so we wanted to deliver a legendary, eclectic lineup for the Doheny fans. Gregg Allman rarely performs on the West Coast, and Steve Miller's influence on blues-rock music cannot be understated. Plus, both Allman and Miller have recorded blues albums this year ... so the timing is perfect. This is our way of saying thanks to the loyal supporters of our independent festival.”

Turns out Big Audio Dynamite's standout Coachella appearance in April, preceded by a sold-out warm-up at the Roxy, won't be the only chances patient fans in Southern California will have had to see the reunited group on stage once again.

Former Clash man Mick Jones (pictured) is bringing back his innovative, ahead-of-its-time group for another swing through the States, including two nearby stops: Aug. 10 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles and Aug. 11 at City National Grove of Anaheim. The first show, $35-$48.50, goes on sale Friday, June 10, at 10 a.m. The O.C. date, $30 in advance, $35 day of show, becomes available two hours later.

Also at the Grove and on sale Friday at noon: another return from Devo, Aug. 5, $40 for general admission, $100 for VIP access, including a meet-and-greet ... and the Comedians of Chelsea Lately, featuring Loni Love make that Heather McDonald, Josh Wolf, Jen Kirkman and Fortune Feimster, Sept. 18, $30. And here's a sneak of what's going on sale next week (June 17, to be exact) at the venue: Air Supply, Oct. 15, $35-$55 ... and Fleetwood Mac star Lindsey Buckingham, Oct. 17, also $35-$55.

And one more at Club Nokia: Polish adult-pop vocalist Basia, Sept. 24, $16-$45, on sale Friday at 10 a.m.

Battles, the NYC experimentalists who just released their second album, Gloss Drop, will play Oct. 16 at the Glass House in Pomona. Tickets, $15, go on sale Friday at noon. Also at that venue: the Dear Hunter, with Wild Orchid Children and O'Brother, Aug. 27, $13 in advance, $15 day of show, on sale Saturday at noon ... and Blindside, Sept. 23, $17, on sale June 17 at noon.

What an uncommon and unforgettable treat it was to watch Jeff Beck Friday night in Pomona, ripping away at the “Peter Gunn” theme with wizardly fretwork and replicating with exact precision all those tricky, intricate licks that make up the swooning ditty “How High the Moon.”

It's a blast into the past that, given Beck's progressive artistry, never seemed likely to happen -- and indeed needed a death to occur to inspire it into action. While fellow guitar god Eric Clapton has spent chunks of his later years saluting blues heroes both long gone (Robert Johnson) and still with us (B.B. King), Beck, a master interpreter for whom standards and remakes have always been a part of his repertoire, nonetheless has only now gotten 'round to paying full-length homage to one of the most revered trailblazers, six-string innovator Les Paul.

And what a treasure his tribute has been. A little less than a year after Paul passed away in 2009, Beck initially staged what seemed like a one-off “Rock 'n' Roll Party,” commemorating what would have been his 95th birthday, by gathering friends at the Iridium Jazz Club, the tiny NYC joint where Paul played almost weekly for many years. Enlisting the support of Irish ingénue Imelda May, her English rockabilly husband Darrel Higham and their ace rhythm section, double-bassist Al Gare and drummer Stephen Rushton, the former Yardbird, now 66, got back to basics on a clutch of classics with cameos from, among others, Gary U.S. Bonds and Brian Setzer.

The whole joyous occasion was recorded; in February it was issued as a 20-track CD and even longer DVD from Atco. Yet, lively and moving as the performance was, it hardly conveys the crackling excitement that Beck and his crew have been creating nightly on a brief stateside tour re-creating that shindig, sans big-name guest stars.

Their straightforward but striking production rolled into a packed Fox Theater this weekend, and though the audience's reaction was somewhat subdued to start -- one wonders if half the crowd really knew what they were in for (did they just come to see Beck wail?) -- halfway into the roughly 90-minute set people were leaping up to offer standing ovations. By the time it was over, with a wrenching rendition of “Danny Boy” that found Beck matching May's impassioned vocals with a searing solo, they were roaring for more.

Fleet Foxes started the week by announcing that the Seattle band will release Helplessness Blues, the follow-up to its acclaimed self-titled debut from 2008, on May 3. With new wares to spotlight, it's no surprise the outfit, on its first tour since summer 2009, will play four days after the Sub Pop disc drops (May 7, just to avoid confusion) at the Hollywood Palladium.

That's a venue that could either warmly enhance or completely swallow up those heavenly harmonies (made in part by Robin Pecknold, above). Tickets, $35 (not including fees), go on sale Friday, Feb. 4, at 10 a.m. Catch them May 5 as well, at Spreckels Theatre in San Diego, $31.25 (also before fees), on sale at the same time.

Something else at the Palladium: an event from LGBT club TigerHeat, Feb. 10, $10, on sale Thursday at 10 a.m.

Speaking of out-of-the-closet topics: enduring Latin pop icon Ricky Martin, who turns 40 late this year, will bring his Musica+Almo+Sexo Tour -- his first outing in four years, behind his just-released album of the same name -- to Nokia Theatre on May 6-7. Tickets, $46-$166, go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. Look for his tour to end May 8 at Valley View Casino Center (formerly San Diego Sports Arena), $30-$110, also on sale Saturday at 10 a.m.

And while we're on the Mexican music vibe, here are two more big gigs: Invasion del Corrido, April 30 at Gibson Amphitheatre, price unavailable, on sale Friday at 1 p.m. ... and La Banda El Recodo at Nokia, May 28, $25-$125, on sale Saturday at 10 a.m.

• John Mayer / Michael Franti + Spearhead -- Now that he's drawn heat for his off-color, borderline-racist, mostly just thoughtless comments in that notorious Playboy interview, Mayer seems to be shutting his yap and sticking to what he does best -- concocting sweet pop ditties while still blazing on six strings. Find out if he shoots his mouth off again (and whether his Battle Studies material improves live) when he headlines Thursday night at Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa St., in downtown Los Angeles. Value-added bonus: opening act Franti and his group Spearhead, riding high off good vibes from his infectious smash “Say Hey (I Love You).” Tickets are $40-$80. The pairing also stops March 27 at Mandalay Bay Resort, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd South, in Las Vegas, $60-$90. 800-745-3000. ticketmaster.com

• New Found Glory / Saves the Day -- It's been a year since the Florida quintet New Found Glory issued its sixth album, Not Without a Fight -- so maybe this outing with the Jersey boys of Saves the Day (whose seventh disc, Daybreak, is due later this year) will mark their last shows before heading back into the studio. In any case, the co-headlining trek, also featuring Huntington Beach favorite Hellogoodbye (itself overdue for a new album) and NYC outfit Fireworks, wraps up with shows Saturday and Sunday at House of Blues Blues Anaheim, 1530 S. Disneyland Drive. Tickets are $20. 714-778-2583, 800-745-3000. hob.com, ticketmaster.com

• Gomez -- Six albums on (its last, A New Tide, washed in nearly a year ago) this British quintet is stronger than ever and headed back to its home away from home, Los Angeles, for two shows this weekend, Saturday and Sunday at El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., in Los Angeles. The Little Ones open on Saturday, Family of the Year on Sunday. Tickets are $23. Also at El Rey this week: She & Him, the charming duo of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, who will showcase selections from their playful new release Volume 2 (due March 23), Thursday, sold out. Living Sisters open that gig. 800-745-3000. ticketmaster.com

• Hall of Famers in Anaheim -- Within five days of each other, two Rock and Roll Hall of Famers will make their way to the Grove: Saturday brings a solo set from two-time inductee Stephen Stills, his first such local venture in three years (read about the challenge I've thrown down to fans here) ... while Wednesday delivers another performance from Kinks king Ray Davies, roughly two years after his last gig at the Grove (2200 E. Katella Ave.). L.A. power-pop outfit the 88 will open the latter show. Tickets are $37.50-$47.50 for Stills, $45-$55 for Davies (who also plays Thursday at the Canyon Club, 28912 Roadside Drive, in Agoura Hills, $34.50). Call 714-712-2700 or 800-745-3000 for more details. Online: grove-of-anaheim.com, ticketmaster.com